Nets’ lead role thrills low-key supporting cast

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FRANK CAPECE, a respected 52-year-old New Jersey lawyer, was on his feet, screaming manically. So, too, were his matchday friends — Gary the investment counsellor, Ed the frozen-food king, Danny the Israeli builder, and Bob the dry wall guy. A few seats away, Bruce Willis screamed encouragement into a microphone while the arena’s big screen displayed James Gandolfini, immortalised as a Mafia boss in the television series, The Sopranos, doing likewise.

These are decidedly surreal days for the New Jersey Nets, for so long an anonymous club from a region of the United States about which few had anything positive